While this Canadian woman became the first patient to suffer from “climate change”, she most certainly isn’t the last one!
Recalling Canada’s struggle against temperature extremes in June 2021, Dr. Kyle Merritt, a doctor at Kootenay Lake Hospital, told about a woman in her 70s. He said that Canada was experiencing the worst ever surges in temperature along with lightening storms and wildfires. The hospital was working at its full capacity and it was then that the woman made her way to the emergency department. According to him, the environmental changes were intensifying the woman’s symptoms. She was a diabetic. In addition, she suffered from a heart disease and lived in a congested trailer. The climatic changes aggravated her condition and maintaining adequate hydration became very difficult for her.
Diagnosing Her With Climate Change
After deliberating over her condition, Dr. Kyle decided to label her as a patient suffering from climate change. He said it was important to address the main issue rather than focusing on her symptoms alone.
“If we’re not looking at the underlying cause, and we’re just treating the symptoms, we’re just gonna keep falling further and further behind.”
Dr. Kyle Merritt.
Interestingly, there are a lot of other examples across the globe where climate change has impacted human health. Not only has it caused a rise in cardiovascular and infectious diseases, it has caused a fair amount of deaths too. Quite recently in 2020, the UK reported its first case where the death of a girl was attributed to air pollution. The term “air pollution” was mentioned on her death certificate. Hence, most of the researchers/doctors are now proposing to officially acknowledge and include “climate change” on death certificates and diagnosis charts.
